Adulthood and Great Deals on Furniture

So these past few weeks have been bloody. My psyche feels absolutely bruised by all the crap that has been thrown around lately. Oh don't get me wrong, ministry is fine and my life is fine. It's just been tough you know?

In the past few weeks every member of my family have been in the hospital. Most notably my sister Cathy who after experiencing Kidney failure has been on dialysis and added to the transplant list. She's getting along and so am I but the entire situation could best be summed up by a question my nephew Logan asked my sister when he got home from school. "So Mom, who went into the hospital today?" Pretty astute for a second grader.

On the other hand I just bought a beautiful armoir at a second hand furniture store that is one of the most beautiful things I could possibly imagine. Follow that with an $1100 coffee table I bought a few days later on sale for $250. What a fantastic deal!!! It has a marble top and must weight at least 80 pounds! However, it has made coming home such an unexpected pleasure you know. I think I might be developing an addiction to buying furniture. It took me ten months to pay for my armoir but now that it is home I want to go out and buy something else.

I also turned 30 in January and it kind of freaked me out. Coming home each day to hand me down furniture that was falling apart made me feel like I was behind my age. You're supposed to have crappy furniture and empty rooms in college. So I am happy to be getting rid of the milkcrates and exchanging them for actual pieces of furniture. It makes me feel like I am at the right place in my life you know?

I am also so proud of my youth group! What a fantastic group of kids! So that is a quick biographical sketch of what's been going on lately.

In my next blog I'll write about a research project I've been doing.

Regular Blogging...

I will make no promises... but I would like to begin blogging regularly again. I miss this world entirely to much. Especially since I think I have gotten the hang of many aspects of my ministry that have thus far eluded me. I am also in a hopeful frame of mind due in no small part to many hours of sleep I have had today. Yesterday I returned from Michigan with the youth group, and today I rested the entire day away. I didn' even do the dishes that have been staring at me for a week. I still feel tired but I know that when I go to bed tonite tomorrow will find me refreshed. So I am hopeful for a day of full energy. Days that have been far to few lately.

Hope is the operative word here though. My sister, Cathy, who is one of my wisest and most wonderful of counselors has been very ill. It has not been in any way easy and does not appear to be letting up. She did return to work today and is out of the hospital but the prognosis isn't good. But I continue to hope...

A couple years ago I had what I described as "The Fullest Lent Ever". This year has been the "Longest Lent Ever". Alot of wilderness and desert lately.

However I have a funny little story that might demonstrate the immutability of hope. I have this cactus that for some reason is not doing well. In fact, I think my dark green thumb has degraded to a black thumb and I'm going to be a plant killer soon. However, even though this cactus looks bad, the other day it flowered. I've never seen a cactus like this flower before and it is helping me to realize that no matter how dark it seems, God,is still here working things out.

So I have hope... that immutable and undying thing that flowers even the desert.